Land Legacies: Continuing the Family Farm – Christina Foster

July 28, 2025

The below essay was published in Land Legacies: Stories From Landowners for Landowners, featuring 11 Climate Land Leaders’ reflections on how they are actively planning for the future of their land, blending celebration, challenges, and honest introspection.

The 24-page booklets were printed with support from Renewing the Countryside and People’s Company. The entire booklet can be viewed as a PDF on our website.

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I have always known that I wanted to continue our family farming legacy. Life on our diverse, intergenerational farm profoundly shaped who I am, my values, and my understanding of the interconnectedness of life.

When I was ten, the farm changed significantly after a tragic accident. Soon after my dad sold off all the livestock and narrowed the focus to corn and soybeans. I was not encouraged to pursue farming as a career, so I took a different path. I also assumed it would be decades before my Dad would retire. Instead, my parents passed, one after the other, in their early seventies. When my parents passed, I was not prepared.

Our parents had little time to prepare for succession, and as a result left no direction about what to do with the farm. It was tricky because I was the executor and the only one that wanted to retain the farm. I worked feverishly for more than two years to manage the estate and farm, explore my farming options, all while I continued to work and raise a young son. Through all of this I came to realize that I would rather try and fail at farming than not try at all. So, I continued conversations with my siblings to find a fair way to divide up the estate.

Christina Foster owns Whildin Family Farm in Illinois.

Christina Foster owns Whildin Family Farm in Illinois.

Fair was challenging in this situation as the home base farm, now only 34 acres, was surrounded by development, which made the cost per acre extremely high. There was no way I could acquire it at that price. Regardless, I knew that the most important thing was to make sure we made unanimous decisions and to do no harm to our relationships in the process.

We came to an agreement after considering many scenarios. We had another farm nearby that had an excellent productivity index rating. We sold that farm so that I could settle with my siblings. We agreed to value the home farm acreage at the same per acre price that we received from the sale of the other farm.
I am so grateful to my siblings for making it possible for me to stay on the farm. It is home to me – it connects me to my parents, my lineage, and to this place. There really is no place like home. As I continue to transition the farm using regenerative practices, I intend to create a viable farm operation that gives my son, the seventh generation on the farm, the option to become the next land steward someday.